FEI has announced the Quanta 50 Series scanning electron microscope (SEM).
It will be introduced at Pittcon, taking place in Chicago from 8-13 March, 2009.
Daniel Phifer, product marketing manager, FEI, said: 'It is designed as a multipurpose SEM for labs that require high-performance imaging for a broad range of samples, including those that are insulating, wet, dirty, or dynamically changing, in industries such as materials research, mineralogy, chemicals and petroleum, electronics, pharmaceuticals and biology.
'Unlike other SEMs, where the sample has to fit the instrument design, the Quanta 50 Series is designed to allow viewing of any sample in its natural state.' FEI has adapted some technologies used in the Magellan extreme high- resolution SEM (XHR SEM) to engineer improvements in the Quanta system.
Specifically, beam deceleration increases the surface imaging capability with lower landing energies, and Smartscan technologies further improve image quality by reducing noise.
This adds high-vacuum, low-landing energy imaging capability to the flexibility of the Quanta's low-vacuum and environmental SEM (ESEM) technology.
ESEM, pioneered by FEI, allows a wide range of in situ imaging conditions.
The Quanta 50 Series will be available in April 2009, and includes cost-effective tungsten and high-performance field emission electron source options.
